Pulmonary lymphangioleiomyomatosis. High-resolution CT findings in 11 patients and compared with the literature

We retrospectively evaluated the high-resolution computed tomographic (HRCT) findings in 11 women patients with pulmonary lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM). Numerous, thin-walled cysts distributed diffusely throughout the lungs and ranged in size from a few millimeters to several centimeters were seen on HRCT in all patients. Other findings at HRCT included interlobular septal thickening (six patients), ground-glass opacity (one patient) and architectural distortion (one patient). Our study found that HRCT imaging findings were similar to the literatures reported, except that majority of our cases also have interstitial changes. HRCT may help establish this diagnosis when diagnosis by clinical findings is uncertain and chest radiographs showed normal or nonspecific findings.